Conflict Management
Group Project
Bryant& Stratton College
SOSC301JMS: Interpersonal Group Dynamics
Robyn Milliken
June13, 2014
Conflict Management
Introduction
Nothing is more synonymous with togetherness
than peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Small
groups, however, are not peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches. The reason is that there is no way to
avoid conflict in a group setting. The only way to not
let conflict consume your group is by managing it.
There are several aspects to deal with as you
manage your conflict. First, you will need to know
what the different types of conflict are. Second, you
will need to know what makes a successful group,
including: teamwork, de2ne ethics, and diversity.
Finally, you will need to know how to use different
conflict management styles. Once you achieved
these aspects, your group will be a peanut butter and
jelly sandwich.
Defining Conict Management
Conflict management is a necessary skill to have
in any group setting, as conflict is an inevitable part
of human interaction. Conflict can be defined as “the
condition in which people’s concerns appear to be
incompatible,” and, by extension, conflict
management can be defined as learning how to
make different concerns compatible (Thomas, n.d.).
Another outcome of conflict management is finding
out if a solution is even possible. If there is no
solution available, how can the group move forward
beyond the conflict?
Dr. Bernard Mayer, described conflict as
happening along three dimensions of perception:
cognitive, emotional, and behavioral. Those
dimensions of perception with conflict are based
around 2ve needs people want satistied, which are
communication, emotions, values, structure, and
history (Mayer, 2000). When those needs are not
compatible with others in a group, the incompatibility
will often result in conflict. The reasons those needs
may not be compatible could be based around a
number of factors, like diversity in a group, shared
ethics, or what teamwork is.
Types of Conict
Pseudo conflict is fake or false. This happens
between people who do not understand that their
differences of the topic are the cause for them to
agree. An example of pseudo conflict is arguing that
you are right and the other person is wrong, all the
while not understanding that they believe the same
thing you do. You are both in agreement but are
unaware of the fact because of the way it was
presented or described. A strategy to avoid this is by
asking what they mean because you don’t
understand the terms they are using. Simple conflict
according to the textbook is“disagreement over a
course of action, idea policy, or procedure” (Beebe
&Masterson, 2012). Ego conflict occurs when the
individual becomes defensive about their position on
an issue because they feel they are being attacked.
Ego conflicts are charged with emotion, and the
defensiveness that an individual has, has evolved to
have defensiveness in others. If a person is trying to
mediate an ego conflict, they try to 2nd issues where
the disagreeing parties can agree on.
Diversity in Small Groups
When we think of culture many things come into
play such as: race, ethnicity, language, nationality,
religion, and sexual orientation. Cultural diversity is a
controversial issue in the workplace, which can have
both positive and negative impacts on the workplace.
The differences amongst a group can strengthen a
group or cause conflict because of judgmental bias
opinions. Many times people jump to conclusions
regarding a culture that they are unfamiliar with, and
instead of getting to know that person for who they
are, they use prior judgment to make their opinion
about that person.
Today, hardly a day goes by that a national
newspaper or magazine doesn’t run a story on some
aspect of increasing diversity in the U. S. workforce
including: changing demographics of the population,
immigration policy, and the debate over a@rmative
action programs(Fine, 1996). Some positive impacts
of cultural diversity include marketing, increased
creativity, bilingual employees, and relationship
building. With so many companies doing business
with countries from all over the world, it is beneficial
to have bilingual employees that can communicate
more effectively with the other party.
Along with positive impacts, there are negative
impacts within cultural diversity. Some of the
negative impacts are high turnover rate,
discrimination,stereotypes, and resistance to
acceptance. It is seen all too often in the workplace
with people judging one another based on their race
or religion. Two employees can have so much in
